Hello person reading this! Sorry I haven't updated in a while on this site, I might have been focusing on the version of this story that's on Wattpad too much... I'm still trying to figure out how to progress with this story so criticism about what I'm doing wrong and ideas on how to continue would be of great help. Hope you enjoy :) ~kittys3ction123

I'm ready, the famous last words.

After a full two weeks of planning via meetings at the nearby library and Skype, they were ready for their first caper. They were all at the entrance of the museum in which the Hope Diamond was being housed. It had closed several hours previously and it was nearing midnight.

"You guys ready? School's finally out, it's time to see whether all the painstaking planning paid off." Sketcher asked jokingly as she leaned against a wall of a building not far from the museum. Her face carried a smile but the fact that it didn't reach her eyes gave away her nervousness.

"Can we go now, everyone's gonna fall asleep soon." So it was, Stardust was looking extremely disgruntled as she attempted to keep her eyes open.

The cockiness of Liberty's voice put us at ease though, even if none of us would admit it. It was comforting to know that some things wouldn't change, like Liberty's overconfidence.

Stardust yawned, she was definitely not a night owl.

"Can we just get going before I fall asleep?" She yawned again.

"Yep, sooner the better so that the lady can get her beauty sleep right?"

"Shut up Liberty." His statement was met with groans and eye rolls by all his teammates.

As the operatives took up their positions at the museum, Cheshire climbed a tree and proceeded to the roof, careful not to be caught in the view of the security cameras. She made it to the roof, watching as Liberty disabled the cameras.

Sighing, she stood there for a few seconds, relishing the rush of wind as she opened the window and slipped into the building, she ducked behind a pillar when she heard someone coming in, what were they doing? Sketcher was supposed to be in charge of knocking out the security guards, yet she was nowhere in sight. Cheshire frowned, this wasn't part of their plan.

Cheshire glanced outside the window in time to see Stardust blowing some of her sleeping powder formula in the direction of some guards, reaching down and opening the pouch she had on her belt, Cheshire got a black cloth and tied it around the lower half of her face to cover her mouth and nose in case any of the sleeping power came in her direction.

"I'm ready."

She shot out from behind the pillar, coming to a halt in front of a glass box. Inside of it, shimmering brightly, was the Hope Diamond. Cheshire gasped in amazement, it was stunning, wouldn't it be horrible to hide its beauty from the rest of the world? She mentally shook her head, she couldn't let her teammates down. She tried to lift the box just as Blade came into the room.

"Right on time Blade, help me out here." Cheshire grinned, not that it mattered, seeing that she still had her mask on.

Nodding, Blade helped Cheshire lift the box and lower it out of the window, where Stardust had been positioned.

It would have been easier to simply take the necklace but Sketcher has been skeptical about touching the gem, believing it might lower their chances of securing their target. So, they had compromised on taking it with the box.

This had been proved an increasingly regrettable decision as they moved the glass case slowly to prevent shattering the glass. As she watched the case dropped slowly to the ground, she found that her patience was running quite thin. As it touched the ground she leaped out of the window after and landed lightly next to the box.

Straightening up in time to see Blade jump out the window too, she felt a great sense of achievement as she gave the thumbs up to everyone else.

"I'll handle it."

Cheshire pulled at her gloves before reaching into the glass case and lifted up the diamond, glittering brightly on its chain, she took a moment to admire the gem before slipping it into a small wooden box that had a cushioning in it. Sketcher and Liberty joined the group soon after, armed with identical wooden boxes. (To make it harder for any people tried to take the gem from them, the similar boxes would confuse them.)

Cheshire passed the box she was carrying over to Liberty and he passed his box to her, she nodded, the box she knew contained a duplicate of the diamond in case there were any... complications... and they all began to run towards their pickup point where the Cleaners would be picking them up.

Suddenly, Cheshire heard a rustle from a nearby bush and something told her that it wasn't a squirrel.

"We're being watched," she mouthed to Stardust and Stardust's eyes widened in alarm as she began to speed up to catch up with the others.

Cheshire was about to set off too when a net and two figures emerged from the bush, trapping her in the net. She stumbled into a tree and fell to the ground, dropping the wooden box she had been clutching protectively. She looked around and spotted Liberty and the others getting into a car before driving off. Her feelings sank, she was going to be alone this time.

She began reached for her pocket knife in her left pocket but to her dismay, found that she had either left it back at her apartment or...

Liberty... I'm going to murder you!

But even her anger couldn't distract her from the fact that she was in big trouble.

"This was not part of the plan.

She pressed a button on one of her gloves, sharp claw-like spikes emerged from one of her gloves, she preferred to use these claws only as last resorts but, drastic times call for drastic measures, she dreaded the possibility of having to shred someone's face off.

"Ohhh, this was definitely not part of the plan." She groaned, putting her face in her hands.

Another chapter down, lots more to go! And exactly 999 words!